Ball holder



May 10, 1955 J. KOTCHKA BALL HOLDER Filed Dec. 9. 1952 12 24 fd 240. M

M jffj INVENTOR.

BY. A

Unite States This invention relates to improvements in ball holders and more particularly to improvements in ball holders in which a resilient means is provided to retain one or more balls in spaced relationship with respect to said holder.

it is an important object of this invention to provide an improved ball holder to retain one or more balls in spaced relationship with respect to said holder whereby each of said balls is readily accessible to a player seeking the same.

Various popular sports utilize a spherical playing piece, and it is often desired to have a plurality of these avail able at all times to replace those lost or damaged in play. This is especially true in the game of golf, where an average golfer finds it necessary to carry two orthree golf balls on his person to replace those lost in water holes and the rough and those cut or damaged by poorly executed strokes.

Therefore it is a further object of this invention to provide an improved ball holder attachable to a sportsmans person whereby a plurality of balls are always readily accessible.

it is a further object of this invention to provide a ball holder which will protect the associated balls from disfigurement and damage while carried therein.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved ball holder which will resiliently retain a plurality of balls and prevent inadvertent removal of the said balls from the holder.

it is another object of this invention to provide a ball holder which will not interfere with normal activity of a sportsman wearing this device or be inconvenient in use.

atent It is another object of this invention to provide an improved ball holder attachable to a sportsmans belt which may readily be detached therefrom and secured to other planar surfaces such as a golf bag or the like.

Further and additional objects will become manifest from a consideration of this description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claim.

in carrying out this invention in one form, a curved base is provided to which a helically wound spring is secured. provided which has a plurality of convolutions, the number of which is dependent upon the number of balls which the holder is adapted to retain. It has been found desirable to provide approximately five convolutions of said helical spring for each call to be retained, though the invention includes within its scope any configuration or number of convolutions which may be found desirable for a particular application. At each point along the length of the helical spring at which a ball is to be received the successive convolutions of the helical spring are formed with a space therebetween sufiiciently large to insure that a ball forced against said helical spring will automatically seat into the desired space between the successive predetermined convolutions.

For a more complete understanding of this invention reference should now be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

More particularly, a helically wound spring is ice Figure 1 illustrates a ball holder in accordance with this invention as applied for use with golf balls;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the ball holder of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 illustrates the belt clip of this invention as viewed from the back of the ball holder of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a partial view illustrating the configuration of the helical member and an alternate terminal convolution attachment;

.Fig. 5 is a. sectional view showing a second embodiment of this invention using an alternate clip means; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the embodiment of Fig. 1 showing the details of the associated belt clip.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, a golf ball holder 10 is shown attached to a belt 12 which is only partially here shown. The ball holder 10 comprises a base 14 made of a rigid material such as sheet metal and formed to have a curvilinear configuration to correspond to the curvature of the wearers waist. The ball holder of this invention, while here shown designed to receive golf balls, may clearly be adapted for use with baseballs or the like and would be especially useful for an umpire, who must at all times have in his possession a plurality of such balls.

Furthermore, depending upon the curvature of the base 14, the ball holder of this invention may be adapted for mounting either along the front, back, or side portion of a persons waist. A helical spring 16 is mounted on the curved base 14 and is secured at a plurality of predetermined points. Predetermined convolutions of the spring 16 may be secured to the base 14 by one of several means. A pair of supplemental staples 18 are utilized in this embodiment at theterminal convolutions of the spring 16 to secure the convolutions 24c and 24:1 to the base 14. The terminal convolutions are then formed over upon the staple 18 to form a locking loop 25. The predetermined convolutions may also be secured in position by insertion under a punched and raised portion 20 of the base 14 as shown with respect to the intermediate convolutions of the spring 16. The raised portions 20 are then formed downwardly at ends 22 to permanently engage the corresponding convolutions 24a and 24 The convolutions 24a and 24b immediately adjacent to the'clamped co'nvolution 242 are formed to provide an enlarged space therebetween, as shown most clearly in Fig. 4, whereby a ball 26 forced into the helical spring 16 will automatically be directed between the desired convolutions 24a and 24b. A second helix termination is also shown in Fig. 4 in which two successive convolutions 24g and 24h are clamped under a staple 19 to insure more positive attachment.

While the ball holder 10 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is adapted to receive three golf balls, it should be clear that the base 14 may be made of any desired length and the length of spring 16 correspondingly determined. Thus the ball holder 10 could be adapted to receive any predetermined number of balls. In this embodiment a resilient wire clip 34 is provided to support the base 14 in position on the belt 12. The clip 34 is formed having an S shape as shown most clearly in Fig. 6, whereby an integral unit is formed having a belt-engaging portion 28, a main portion 30, and a base-engaging portion 36. The belt-engaging portion 28 is formed substantially coextensive with the main portion 30 of the clip and is adapted to resiliently retain the belt 12 between the beltengaging and main portions. The lower end of the beltengaging portion 28 is formed outwardly as at 32 to more readily engage the belt 12 and be slidable thereover. The base-engaging portion 36 is formed integrally with and extending from the lower extremity of the main portion 30 and is substantially coextensive therewith. The baseengaging portion 36 extends to a point adjacent to the top of the base 14 and is there formed into a U-shaped 3 clamp 38 adapted to engage the upper edge 40 of the base 14. The clip 34 is thereby detachably secured to the base 14 and adapted to resiliently engage any planar surface such as the belt 12.

A second embodiment is shown in section in Fig. 5 utilizing a wing nut type of clip. In the embodiment of Fig. 5 a ball holder 42 is provided having a helical spring 44 secured to a curved base 46 in any of the manners described above. The curved base 46 is shown supported against a belt 48 by clip means 50. Clip means 50 com prises a curved clamp 52 having a foot 54 in engagement with the base 46. The clamp 52 is secured in resilient engagement with the belt 48 by a bolt 56 which extends through an aperture formed in clamp 52 and a corresponding aperture formed in the base 46. A threaded portion 58 of said bolt extends through these corresponding apertures and is engaged by a wing nut 60. The wing nut 60 is adjustable and may be tightened by a wearer, whereby the base 46 is secured at any point about the wearers waist by engagement of the clamp 52 against the belt 48.

While a single clip 50 is shown in Fig. 5 it should be clear that any number of clips 50 may be found desirable, depending upon the over-all length of the base 14. At

least two clips of this variety, one disposed at either end of the base, are considered desirable to secure the ball holder of this invention against undue interference with the normal activity of the wearer.

As is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the proper choice of helical spring 16, as determined by the diameter of the I balls being supported, will produce a holder engaging said balls with sufficient force to prevent inadvertent removal from the holder by the normal shocks and vibrations encountered in most athletic activity. Clearly, the

diameter of the helical spring 16 must be less than the diameter of the balls to be retained, but for best results should approximate the ball diameter. It is suggested that a spring having a diameter approximately threefourths that of the ball diameter produces a ball holder having the desired retentive force while possessing sulficient resiliency to allow easy insertion and removal of balls therefrom.

While a ball holder is here shown having clip means for detachably securing said holder to a flexible belt 12,

it is possible to form a ball holder in accordance with this invention integrally with a belt, thus eliminating the need for the clip means and providing an integral structure not subject to inadvertent removal or shifting of position of the ball holder along the length of the belt 12. While the ball holder herein described has a helical member secured at five points along the length of the base 14 and is adapted to receive three balls, one of said balls being disposed over each of three centrally located attaching points, the helical spring 16 may be secured at any number of points along the length of the base 14. It has, however, been found that it is desirable to have one or more convolutions of the spring 16 free from the base 14 for each ball to be received, whereby greater resiliency and extension capabilities of the spring are utilized without exceeding the elastic limit of the material of which the spring is composed.

While two possible clips are herein shown and described it will be immediately apparent that various attaching means will immediately be manifest to one skilled in the art and will be within the spirit and scope of this invention. Furthermore, while the base 14 and helical spring 16 have been described herein as constructed of metallic materials, either of these portions may be constructed of a resilient plastic and may, in fact, be integrally molded as a single plastic unit.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully explain the character of my invention that others may, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt the same for use under varying conditions of service, while retaining certain features which may properly be said to constitute the essential items of novelty involved, which items are intended to be defined and secured to me by the following claim.

I claim:

A ball holder for mounting on an elongate element comprising an elongated base member, securing means being formed at predetermined intervals along one surface of said base member, clamp means secured to the other surface of said base member and engageable with such element to position said base member relative thereto, and resilient helical means having a plurality of convolutions, the terminal and predetermined intermediate convolutions of said helical means being secured to said securing means on said base member to receive a plurality of such balls, the intermediate convolutions being freely suspended therebetween, predetermind convolutions being formed with an enlarged ball receiving space therebetween at intervals determined by the diameter of the balls retained each of the balls being receivable between adjacent convolutions, at least one of which is freely suspended.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 715,759 Crane a- Dec. 16, 1902 1,911,256 Andrew May 30, 1933 2,080,805 Brey May 18, 1937 2,091,545 Hovey et a1. Aug. 31, 1937 2,278,691 Cotter Apr. 7, 1942 

